How to Say Goodbye
by PaperPrincessC
Summary: The love of his life died of cancer. He held on to the bites and pieces of the memories and refused to say goodbye. How did he heal from a broken heart? AH. Edward.
1. Chapter 1

**Here is my very first story. Un-beta, so all mistakes are my fault. ****Thanks for reading.**

**Stephanie Meyer owns Twilight.**

Chapter 1

When Edward Cullen received a call from Izzy's school, he was in a meeting. His assistant Tanya came into the conference room and gave him a note.

Edward found an excuse and stepped out. He asked quietly, "What is it?"

Tanya said it was an emergency from Izzy's school.

Edward sigh, "I'm in the middle of a due diligence prep, I can't leave!"

"I told Mr. Whitlock and he is coming up to finish the meeting."

"How could a teacher make my life so miserable? Shouldn't it be the teacher's responsibility to figure out what happened in school? I have to work!" Edward said impatiently.

Tanya gave him a small smile.

"Edward, I'll take care of it." Jasper Whitlock urged his partner.

Edward took his jacket from Tanya. His rubbed his eyes, "I've been really tired this year."

"Just try to get through the meeting with Izzy's teacher. It will get better tomorrow." Tanya encouraged.

Edward met Izzy and her teacher at the school office. He put his hands on his 7-year-old girl's shoulders and gave her a little squeeze while waiting for the teacher to start talking.

Izzy's teacher smiled and said, "Mr. Cullen, Izzy pushed her classmate Sophia to the ground and told her that she's a fat and ugly pig. Because this was the third time that Izzy called her friends names and got physical, she's suspended for two days."

The teacher's words shocked Edward, he asked his daughter, "Did you really do that?"

Izzy said nothing but nodded.

Izzy's teacher continued, "We would like parents to help us in guiding the students…. Izzy has to stop bullying her classmates…"

Edward stopped listening.

"I'll talk to her." Edward remained calm. He picked up Izzy's backpack and they left the office.

When Izzy got into Edwards car, she turned to Edward, "Daddy, let's go get some ice-cream?"

At that time, Edward laid his head down on the steering wheel with tears streaming down his face.

Izzy was scared, she grabbed some tissue and handed it to her father.

Edward quietly said, "How about we get home first? We need to talk."

Izzy looked outside the widow and said quietly, "It was Sophia who makes fun of me all the time. My teacher likes her because she's super smart."

Edward pulled out of the school parking lot.

Izzy continued, "I want to switch school."

Edward asked his daughter, "Does Sophia really look like a fat pig?"

"No." Izzy whispered. "She is the prettiest and smartest girl in our class. She's like a princess and she's popular."

Edward kept his eyes on the road, "Sometimes, even when we see a pig, we should be somewhat nice about it."

"What?" Izzy confused.

"You tell her not to feel bad about being a pig. Everybody loves a good pulled pork sandwich."

The father and daughter both giggled loudly. However, Edward could hear the emptiness in Izzy's laughter.

Izzy stopped, turned to her father and said, "I miss Mom."

Edward whispered, "I do too."

Izzy wiped her tears with the back of her hands. "Sophia's mom picks her up every day after school."

Edward pulled into an empty parking lot. He pulled his daughter in and hugged her tightly, "I'm sure Sophia is a pig."

Both of them wept.

Izzy hiccupped, "I wish Mom was still with us."

When they got home, Edward pulled his tie loose and collapsed on his sofa. He was beyond tired.

Izzy went into her room and turned on the TV. Maybe Disney sitcoms could help her forget about her bad day.

Edward ignored the buzzing from his phone. His work could wait, he needed to sleep.

He could tell someone put a blanket on him.

Edward struggled in his dreams. He saw his late wife Bella standing in front of him smiling. He knew it was a dream but he was still excited to see her. "Bella, is it really you?"

Bella took Edward's hands and placed a soft kiss on them. "Why are you so sad?"

"Bella, please come back. Please."

"You take good care of Izzy for me. I love you."

"Bella, if you can't come back, please let me come with you."

"What about Izzy?"

Edward stubbornly said, "Alice will take good care of her."

"That's not fair to Izzy."

"I can't raise her alone. She has all my flaws. I don't know how..."

"She only has you, please be patient with her."

"I can't do it alone! I've tried my best."

Bella wept sadly.

Edward reached out to pull Bella in, "Bella, don't worry, I'll do better. Bella… I promise"

**A/N:**

**Thanks for reading the first chapter. Let me know what you think. Thanks.**


	2. Chapter 2

**This story is un-beta. All mistakes are my faults. I apologize in advance.**

**Stephenie Meyer owns Twilight.**

Chapter 2

"Dad… Dad…" Edward struggled to open his eyes. He wanted to comfort Bella. He wanted to kiss Bella's tears away, even in his dreams.

"Tanya's at our door." Izzy said.

Edward rubbed his eyes and let Tanya in.

"I'm really Okay. You don't have to check on me." Edward said quietly.

"I brought some sandwich for you and Izzy. What did the teacher say?" Tanya asked with a smile.

"Can you check on the application process to St. Teresa's for Izzy?"

"You want to transfer Izzy mid-semester? There are only six weeks…"

Edward did wait for Tanya to finish. "It doesn't matter. Maybe it's meant to be."

"Maybe you just need to take a break."

"A break? That's not enough. I think I should retire and move to an island."

"We are going to miss you, Edward."

"Nobody is going to miss me. Nobody will even know that I'm gone."

"You friends and family will miss you. Our whole office can't function without you." Tanya couldn't tell him that she couldn't function without Edward. It's not the right time.

"I need a long vacation, a really long one." Edward changed his mind. He knew moving to an island without Bella was the same living anywhere.

Tanya said goodbye after a while. She couldn't invite herself to stay for dinner.

Edward went into Izzy's room. He found her lying on pink bed with her face down.

"Izzy…"

Izzy turned to face Edward, covering her eyes and hiccupped. "Daddy, I really miss Mommy. I miss her tickling me. I miss her braiding my hair. I miss the notes she left in my lunch box. I miss her burnt cookies… Daddy…" Izzy sobbed.

Edward pulled Izzy onto his lap and wiped Izzy's tears. "Let's go on a vacation together."

"What about school?"

"No school for you and no work for me." Edward said with a little more certainty.

"For how long?"

"Maybe a year, maybe two. We'll figure it out."

"What about my homework?" Izzy couldn't believe what she just heard.

"You'll catch up later." Edward said simply.

"What would mommy say about this?" Izzy hesitated.

"She would want us to be happy." Edward had decided.

The next day, Edward went into Jasper's office as soon as he got in.

"Jazz. I need a vacation." Edward started.

"You can't go next March. I'm taking two weeks off. Your sister is going to kill me if I miss the spring fashion show again. I promise to go to Paris with her." Jasper responded without looking up.

"I want to take a year off."

Jasper almost spilled his coffee. He sat up and looked at his partner. He blamed himself for not being able to help his best friend. He also needed Edward for their law firm.

"I struggle all my life to get to where we are at today. You know I would still be fighting for partnership in our old firm if you didn't take me with you to start our own. We could lose Aero Internationals. You are the only one he trusts. Their constant M&A is 60% of our business."

"I want to spend some time with Izzy before she is labeled a problem teen."

Jasper snorted. "You wanted to escape from reality. You want to lose yourself on a beaching drinking pina colada! Don't use my niece as an excuse. She's only seven."

"Jasper, I love chatting with you."

"Edward, I know you miss Bella. You don't accept that she's gone. You have to be strong. We all need you here."

"You are right. I can't live without Bella."

"So I have to pay for it? That's not fair."

Edward asked angrily, "anything is fair anymore? Bella was only 35. Was she in someone's way? Why did she have to die?"

"Your angry attitude is going to affect Izzy. Why don't you come to stay with Alice and I for a while?"

"Thank you, but no." Edward answered without thinking.

"Do you know how much you've changed this year? You need to lose yourself in work. You need to have something to focus on other than Bella. There are many people who lose their loved ones. They pick themselves up and keep on going. Edward, we all love you and Izzy. Don't cut us off." Jasper begged.

"Jasper, you can handle any client. We both know that. We got Aero because of my dad. You are family, how could he not trust you? You just have to do some hand holding when he gets nervous. Besides, there are several seniors that you can hand off some of your responsibility. It will work. Let me go for a while." Edward tried to reason with Jasper from purely the business standpoint.

"Don't make me call Alice back from Tokyo."

"My sister loves me. She will side with me."

Jasper asked, "Do you need a new shrink?"

"I don't want to waste my money and my time."

Jasper sighed and walked up to Edward. "I hope this vacation is going to help. You have one year. Give me a number I can reach you. I will only call if my life depends on it. But please keep in touch. And, you tell Alice yourself."

Edward hugged Jasper and walked back to his own office. Tanya already had travel information on his desk.

**A/N: If you can let me know what you think, I would really appreciate it. There will be more back memories with Bella in the next chapter, I think. **


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